


Spinnerets

by dixiehellcat



Series: Tony Stark Bingo Round 4 [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Arachnes - Freeform, Canonical Character Death, Child Abuse, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Kid Tony Stark, Kidfic, Spider Mama Natasha Romanoff, Supernatural Creatures, Transformation, literal spider mama, seriously he deserves everything he gets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29098839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dixiehellcat/pseuds/dixiehellcat
Summary: A drunken Howard’s abuse of his son is interrupted by a strange intruder.Fills the "AU--Horror Movie" square on my Round 4 Tony Stark Bingo card number 4028. (required info collected below)
Relationships: Howard Stark & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark Bingo Round 4 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009245
Comments: 10
Kudos: 62
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	Spinnerets

**Author's Note:**

> Bingo specifics:  
> Title: Spinnerets  
> Author: deehellcat  
> Card Number: 4028  
> Link (AO3, Tumblr, etc.) https://archiveofourown.org/works/29098839  
> Square Filled (Letter AND number AND prompt) K2, Horror Movie AU  
> Ship/Main Pairing: none  
> Rating (Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit) teen for abuse and horror-typical activity  
> Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Supernatural Creatures, Kidfic, Kid Tony Stark, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, seriously he deserves everything he gets, Spider Mama Natasha Romanoff, literal spider mama, Arachnes, Canonical Character Death, Child Abuse, Transformation, Adoption  
> Summary: A drunken Howard’s abuse of his son is interrupted by a strange intruder.  
> Word Count: 636

While Howard raged, Tony hid under a table. Things had gone from bad to worse, after first Jarvis and then Maria had died. Howard was no father material for a small boy, and had no patience for curiosity. The boy’s latest intrusion into his drunken parent's workshop might be his last, as Howard spotted a tiny trembling foot poking out from under the worktable and dragged a wailing Tony out.

His fist drew back, but never fell. Instead, a hand closed on his arm. It was not large, but its grip was strong as vibranium. Howard spun and found a woman facing him, slim, with pale, mottled skin, bright red hair, and odd eyes that seemed to have two pupils. “What are you doing?” she asked. The mildness of her voice belied the power in her body; when he tried to swing at her, she threw him across the workspace with no more than a flick of her wrist. As he watched in horror, her face split away and her body _changed_ , into something half human, half spider. It leapt across the room and hovered over him, fangs sinking into his flesh.

Howard Stark was dead before he could do much more than let out one strangled squeak. The spider woman waited a moment for her venom to take full effect, then sucked him dry. Her hunger sated, she turned toward the child. Surprisingly, he was not cowering or screaming, but stood quietly examining her. “That’s cool,” he said, “how you walk around on all those legs. Is it hard?”

She would have frowned, if she had had a human face at the moment. “No,” she said. “It is natural, to my kind. I am an Arachne.”

“Oh,” he said. When she focused her compound eyes on him, she saw the splotchy bruises that made his flesh look almost like her own when in human form, and rage roared back into her heart. If the man had still been alive, she thought, she would have killed him more slowly, for violating the laws of nature and hurting his own offspring. “Is Howard dead?”

“He is.”

“Are you gonna kill me now?”

“I…don’t know.” She approached, and was gratified when the wee one stood his ground. “Where is your mother?”

“She died, last year. I got nobody now. Well, Howard is—was mean to me, so I haven’t had anybody since mama died anyhow.”

“I see.” She reached out one thin leg and lightly touched his bleeding cheek. “My kind are scarce. We have few offspring, and we prize them above all else in the world. If you like, I…I could use my venom to turn you, make you into a being like me. You could be my offspring, and I your—not your mother, certainly, for you would never forget her who gave you life, but—”

“You’d be my mother, then.” The boy’s tone was too resolute, his eyes too wise, for one so very young. “That’d be good, if you promise to be nice to me, and teach me how to walk around like you, and change, and—and maybe eat bad people, too?”

Again she almost wished she was wearing her human face, so she could smile at him. The warmth she put into her voice would have to suffice. “Oh, my little one, I swear by all the gods, I will teach you everything you need to know, and love you as you deserve.” Her fangs slid out. “Come. I must give you a little nip. It will sting, but only for a moment.” 

“What’s your name?”

“I have several names, for I am fairly old. Just now, I go by Natasha.”

“Mama Natasha.” Tony’s little head gave a firm little nod and he finally stepped toward her. “Okay. Bite me.”

**Author's Note:**

> The Arachne was borrowed and adapted from Supernatural—I’m not sure in their natural form, they can speak, but in this verse, they can, because I do what I want. 
> 
> This was banged out during a trope game at a party in the Marvel Trumps Hate server, so the backstory isn’t fully thought out, but I suspect Nat may be a freelance burglar who was sneaking into Howard’s workshop to steal, saw him hurting Tony, and lost her mind.


End file.
